LETTER: Problems need to be sorted out internationally

Once again Boris has proved to be a man of his word. His idea of levelling up may be one of the few times he may be proved right. The UK's military spending and construction costs, plus the exploration of disputed seas in the far East could well lead to a levelling up, but in a nuclear sense. Oddly, pots of money can always be found for machinery of mass destruction, but not for life saving things like the financially strapped NHS.

Suppose the UK does need all this gear to maintain "our '' global influence and terrify other countries - after all we used to rule the waves long ago and it seems we think we still do. Trumpette (sorry , Johnson) and his promise to level up the UK's standard of living which is shrinking seems to have hit a wee snag. Apart from the very generous offer to the much overworked NHS by the Government of 1% - but not quite as generous as Hancock's personal assistant or her brother's £20 million contract.

Perhaps it came out of the £350 millions put aside for the NHS with the 50,000 extra staff and new hospitals that were promised. "Get Brexit Done". The chant that rang out both North and South. It had a touch of a certain ex-dictator's " Make America Great Again " and with it the prospects of a lowering of food standards, pharmacies prices hiking, etc to flood the UK. Perhaps, the ever busy Liz Truss, fresh from her Australian deals can sort out something with the vast American food and pharmaceutical companies. It's either cheap and chemically loaded or outrageously expensive.

Good old Liz, she certainly knows her onions. UK farmers are likely to be hit by these terrible deals from around the globe after being repeatedly assured that their future faces "Sunny Uplands" and in many cases voted to leave the closest supplier of some of the most vital things of life - the EU. Just shows to be wary of promises made by the likes of Johnson , Rees-Mogg ,Gove etc. In case you are not one of the increasing, post Brexit, billionaires and cannot afford to whizz around in space, but are finding it harder to get through each week, you are not alone.

Don't forget it was not long ago that Branson asked for £500 millions to help him bail out his empire (gov rejected it) and Bezos made an extra $13 billion in July this year. Wise not to ask him if you can form a sort of union to improve the conditions and bad pay he imposes, lest it intrudes on his perks and you are promptly fired. Recent news was of no help to the millions of people in the UK, in desperate need. The Tory Government is looking into the triple lock system. The UK already has the lowest pension in western Europ, but rest assured the Tories will try their best to find a way to trim it to allow some more dodgy contracts to unchallefied mates and business acquaintances.

As the world struggles with Covid one thing jumps out - it has to be sorted out internationally. It cannot be sorted internally. As in the past, any talk of losing boundaries to deal with the planet's problems are crushed when the vast profits of the few are questioned. Businesses which have always been international if it suits, have to put pressure on their various Governments to stop these rumours in their tracks and tighten up their borders (except for Truss deals). If , as has been in the past, to "solve" the profit threatening problem, invade the problem country, and keep the market safe for those investors concerned for a while anyway.

The covid outbreak has put all these misplaced, preconceived thoughts in question. The rising of organisations like Exstinction Rebelion worldwide is an example. People have started to question the status quo. The future generations?? The planet is heating up. Meetings like the recent G7 achieved little to nothing, (apart from being a super spreader of covid). Too many different interests. It has to be sorted out logically, this inhumane method of them and us, and with the poverty and misery that always goes with it.

Roger Cain, Ludlow

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